Simcoe Composite School Inclement Weather Information: Information on Student Transportation Services: http://www.stsbhn.ca For transportation delays, cancellations or school closures, visit: www.transinfobhn.ca/Cancellations School or board facility closures – notification will be posted by 6:30 am @ wwww.granderie.ca Information will be posted on Grand Erie’s Twitter SCS is Zone 1 (@GEDSB) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/GEDSB) accounts Closure information will also be shared with local media (i.e. radio, television) Find the Board’s Inclement Weather Policy here: https:/bit.ly/2HoC1YX Learn how Student Transportation Services makes its decision about inclement weather here: bit.ly/2JIVSk9 The SCS Eco-Club has been busy the last few months. In addition to the organic waste division program (food scraps are sent to a local farm for animal feed) the Eco-Club has started a new battery recycling initiative. Students & staff can CHICAGO TRIP: bring in their used batteries and deposit them in the buckets located outside the main office or in APRIL 25TH – 29TH, 2019 the 3rd floor science office. Trip is open to students in Grade 10 to 12 only. Spots are still available. The December Holidays cost is $729.00 and provide a fantastic itinerary. For inquiries please email: [email protected] or send your Simcoe Composite School will be closed for the son/daughter in person to room 116 – holidays starting December 22, 2018. Students will Cosmetology. Mr. Oosting & Mr. Ernst return Monday, January 7, 2019. will also be attending the trip. We Wish You a Safe & Happy Holiday 1 Simcoe Composite School GREAT NEWS AT SCS!!! http://www.granderie.ca/schools/scs/news?bnews_cid=7703 http://www.granderie.ca/schools/scs/news/eco-club-2 http://www.granderie.ca/schools/scs/news/acts-kindness-scs http://www.granderie.ca/schools/scs/news?bnews_cid=7703 FUTURE GRADE 9 STUDENT & PARENT INFORMATION NIGHTS AT GRAND ERIE TWITTER: Preparing for secondary school is an https://twitter.com/SimcoeSabres exciting time! There are many decisions INSTAGRAM: for students and their parents to make www.instagram.com/SCS_studentCO including which school to attend, what classes to take, and what extracurricular activities to be a part of. That’s why INDIGENOUS CULTURE CLUB Grand Erie District School Board has SCS is starting a new group for students who are designed a series of information nights to interested in issues and information about Indigenous help students and their families make the culture. The club will evolve as the group decides, but best possible choices. Future Grade 9 may include activities such as sewing moccasins, Student and Parent Info Nights begin in beading bracelets or cooking Indigenous foods. We November and continue up to the will also be recognizing various dates of importance February registration deadline. For the to Indigenous people such as: Orange Shirt Day, Red full schedule, including specialized Dress Day and Treaty Recognition Week. Students will programs, visit Granderie.ca also have a chance to become part of the Board’s SCS – Future Grade 9 Student and Parent Indigenous Students’ Council. For more information, Information Night – Tuesday, January 15, please see Mrs. Van Schyndel in the library. 2019 SCS Swim Team will be starting: Parent Council Meeting Wednesday, January 9th 2019 November 5th, 2018 @ 5:30 pm (in the library) “All new members Welcome!” 2 Simcoe Composite School Academics at SCS SCS students have been hitting the books and studying hard. Sabres excelled on EQAO testing and rocked their academics in 2017 – 18. EQAO Results Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics (Percentage of Students ‘At or Above’ Provincial Standard (Level 3 & 4) Course SCS Board Province Applied Math 55 % 47 % 45 % Academic Math 88 % 82 % 84 % Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) (Percentage of Students ‘At or Above’ Provincial Standard (Level 3 & 4) Course SCS Board Province Applied English 40 % 33 % 39 % Academic English 87 % 84 % 90 % 2017 -18 Credit Accumulation Percentage of Credits Earned Gr. 9 Gr. 10 Gr. 11 Gr. 12 Passing (Above 50 %) 98 % 92 % 95 % 93 % Provincial Standard (Above 70 %) 74 % 66 % 66% 67 % Honours (Above 80 %) 45 % 42 % 44 % 43 % Principal’s Message It’s been a busy fall at SCS and it’s hard to believe that winter will soon be here. Midterm report cards have arrived and hopefully the Sabres have continued to excel in academics as they did last year. There was definitely a lot of Sabres recognized at the Awards Night Ceremony in October. Students’ council has been active planning another fabulous school year at SCS. They organized an outstanding Gr 9 Day and Dance, pumped the Sabres full of spirit for Fair, organized an enjoyable costume contest and scavenger hunt for Halloween, and conducted an absolutely remarkable Remembrance Day Assembly. The SCS bands have been rocking this fall, they played remarkable at the fair, commencement and the Remembrance Day Assembly. There was also plenty of musical talent on display at the Coffee House in October. The fall sports season is wrapping up and we will soon be starting league play for the winter sports. The football team retained the Mud Jug from Delhi but lost a close semi-final game to the MPSS Blue Devils. The golf team won NSSAA and finished in the top ten at CWOSSA. The girls’ cross-country team took home the NSSAA overall title and Fionna Joynes won individual gold at NSSAA, placed 4th at CWOSSA and 37th at OFSAA. The tennis team played well and Sara and Emma Chwastiak won doubles gold at NSSAA. Finally, the junior girls’ basketball team and the senior boys’ volleyball team prevailed as champions at NSSAA and will be representing SCS at CWOSSA. Great season Sabres and good luck to the girls’ volleyball and the boys’ basketball teams at CWOSSA. We are cheering for you! Sabre Pride Mr. Duff 3 Simcoe Composite School News from the Math Department Here, at SCS, the math department is dedicated to the success of every student. We provide many opportunities for students to improve their level of success. One way is by providing a MATH HELP ROOM everyday at lunch. For the most part, every teacher in the department can be available at lunch but if a student’s individual teacher is not available, there is always another math teacher available to help. Room Schedules can be found posted outside of every math room. Please encourage your son/daughter to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Aside from being available to help, we also offer math test rewrites. They will be coming up towards the end of the semester. This is available to students who have failed a test and would like to bring it up to a 50%. For Grade 9 applied and academic math students, the EQAO test will be written towards the nd end of the semester. Tentative dates are January 21 and 22 , 2019. EQAO is mandatory for all students as it is counted for 10% towards students’ final grades. Please try to make sure your son/daughter is at school on those dates to write the test. Students can go to www.eqao.com to find sample tests. We were quite successful last year with 88% of our academic students achieving at Level 3 or above (beating the provincial rate by 6%) and 100% of students passing. With our applied students, 55% achieved at Level 3 or above (beating the provincial rate by 11%) and 93% passed. Congratulations to all, students and staff, for a job well done! Other notables: SHAD is an annual Canadian summer enrichment program for high- achieving high school students in July. It is offered at the University of Waterloo to students who are currently in Grade 10, 11 or 12. We have had students attend SHAD in previous years and felt that it was a worthwhile experience. If your son/daughter is interested in attending, the application deadline is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2018. For more information and to apply, visit https://www.shad.ca/apply.htm. And finally, SCS takes part in mathematics competitions for both Applied and Academic Students. Academic students of all grades can write the Waterloo math contest which is coming up in February (for Gr. 9-11) and in April (for Gr. 12). Students are to see Mrs. Slater if they’re interested in writing. We also offer the Gauss contest for students in Gr. 8 in May, so if you have a soon-to-be-Sabre who loves math, have them see their teacher about writing. Applied and College level students can take part in the Mohawk Math Engineering Competition in May. Last year we sent a team of 2 from each grade. Three of our teams placed 1st and the fourth team placed 2nd. Once again, congratulations to students and staff for a job well done!!! If your son/daughter is interested in being on the team in May, have them see Ms. Misner. 4 Simcoe Composite School SABRE SPORTS NEWS!! Sabre Fall sports teams started the school year off with many successes. All NSSAA finals were hosted in the SabreDome as both girls’ basketball teams and boys’ volleyball teams finished in first place in league play. The junior and senior girls’ basketball teams as well as the senior boys’ volleyball team represented the blue & white in the NSSAA finals. The junior girls won the NSSAA championship and will be representing SCS at CWOSSA in Waterloo on November 16. The senior boys won the NSSAA championship and will be competing in CWOSSA on November 14 & 15 at home as the host school. The Cross-Country Running Team had a tremendous season.